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The Town of Beverly was a Coal Mining community, overlooking the North Saskatchewan River valley, located in what is now part of east Edmonton , Alberta , Canada . During the first half of the Twentieth Century , more than 20 coal mines were active in and around the town, with the larger mines providing much of the town's employment. The town Amalgamated with the City of Edmonton on December 31, 1961. The earliest use of "Beverly" to describe the area dates to 1904 , and it appears the area be named after a township in Ontario. Within a few years, there were enough people living in the area to incorporate the community as a hamlet. In 1907 , construction began on the Cloverdale Bridge. Unable to use the High Level Bridge in Edmonton to bring its trains north of the river, the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway (GTPR) decided to build a bridge of its own further downstream. This brought the railway to Beverly. In the years to come, the GTPR would become the biggest shipper of Coal in Alberta, with much of the coal mined in and around Beverly. In 1913 , Beverly became a village, and the village council promptly passed a bylaw that "authorized borrowing up to $30,000 for the construction of roads and sidewalks and the purchase of fire equipment."Herzog, "Built on Coal", p. 16 It would be years before residents of Beverly would enjoy amenities that were increasingly being taken for granted in other communities. Growth was fast, and the following year Beverly incorporated as a town. That same year, Gustav C. Bergman was elected town mayor.The neighborhood of Bergman located just north of the Beverly townsite was later named after Gustav C. Bergman. The town council needed a town hall, and Allan Merrick Jeffers , who also designed the Alberta Legislature Building, was brought in to do the design. The town hall was a multipurpose facility that also housed police, courts and the fire service on the main floor. The upper floor was used as a dance hall and a school. Located on the same site was the town jail and a corral. One of the Famouse Five , Emily Murphy would work in the Beverly town hall as a Justice Of The Peace . For much of its life as an independent community, the economic backbone of the town would come from Coal Mining . Records show there were over twenty larger coal mines in the area, and an unknown number of small operations as well. The GPTR even built a spur line to provide direct rail service to two of the largest mines. The Great Depression of the 1930s were difficult on the prairies, and Beverly was hit particularly hard. In 1936 , the town defaulted on its debt, and in 1937 , the province appointed an administrator to manage the town. An administrator would manage the town until 1948 . "A provincial study revealed that by the end of the 1930s, many Beverly families had been on welfare more than ten years."Herzog, "Built on Coal", p. 59 TIME LINE
MODERN BEVERLY In modern Edmonton, there are five neighborhoods in the area occupied by the Town of Beverly and the surrounding coal mines: Abbotsfield , Beacon Heights , Bergman , Beverly Heights , and Rundle Heights . While the coal mines are long closed, there are still many links to the old town today, from a park at the site of the Beverly Mine to buildings and neighborhoods named for prominent residents of the old community. REFERENCES FURTHER READING
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